Altered Course
by Infinite Nosferatu
Summary: The day Sakura was approached by Ino she ran away and was found by Orochimaru, following him and leaving her Konohagakure behind. Now she is made to return as a peace candidate for the Hidden Sound Village, only there is a secret plan in place. Rating will go up later on for language :) Sakura-centric, but there are many other pairings within.
1. Daughter to the Lord of Sound

**Disclaimer; I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

**Altered Course**

**Chapter One**

**Daughter to the Lord of Sound**

**Inspired by Carrie Underwood, Lessons Learned & Nicki Minaj+Rihanna, Fly**

'Thought'

"Speech"

_Flashback/dream sequence_

(A/N: Author's Note)

-Sakura POV-

_I didn't give her a chance to hurt me like the others. I just ran away from her, the girl with the blonde hair and blue eyes. She had smiled but I was so scared that she was like them that I left before she could do anything more. I ran far and I ran fast. I ran past the adults getting home, the shopkeepers that were closing up, and I even ran past Sasuke and his big brother._

_I could only guess who they had been because they all called out to me. I was very good at placing a voice to a face. I was relying on my instinct to navigate through the village to run from my terrors with tears blurring my vision._

_I ran all the way into the forest that was inside the walls of Konoha. I ran as far as I could before I tripped and fell. Pain shot through my body and I cried harder, trying desperately to keep my sobs from breaking through into the air._

_It became colder as I let my sobs die and my crying started to stop. I didn't open my eyes but I could tell that night was falling and that my bleeding as making my body really cold. I didn't know what was happening but the pain I was feeling in my chest was beginning to stop._

"_Poor child," a voice hissed. I opened my eyes in the dark of night and looked to see a pale man with dark hair standing over me. I winced when I tried to get up and wrapped my arms around myself._

"_You're hurt aren't you," he said. I nodded before he spoke again with his hands glowing with green chakra. "This will help you. It will heal the physical injuries that you have, but your other injuries, well, it won't do that." I heard him chuckle a little as I felt the green chakra start to heal me._

_It felt funny. It was tingly and it tickled me a bit. I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing out. My dad had told me that it was rude to laugh at someone, especially someone you just met. But all the same a little giggle made its way out, my hands flew to my mouth and I stared at the man scared of the punishment he would give me._

_He chuckled and looked at me with his yellow eyes._

"_I can sense a lot of power in you child," he said, moving to sit next to me. "It's deep inside you, locked up and kept away. You could be very strong if that wasn't so." I turned to him, wanting to hear more of what he had to say._

"_Tell me, how do they hurt you?" I gasped and looked at him in shock. He knew that the other kids were hurting me. "They hurt you with words, don't they? Remarks on the flaws that you already know of. And sometimes they physically go against you."_

"_Don't trust strangers!" My dad's words rang in my head and gave me some strength to stand._

"_Thank you for healing me sir," I said with a bow, "but I must get home. My mum and dad are waiting for me." I had moved away from him a little more before he spoke again, this time his words meant something to me._

"_They have not come for you yet. You family or you enemies, none of them have come to look for you. I wonder if that says that they trust you enough to be on your own, or if it is that they merely don't care either way." I swallowed the lump that was in my throat only to have it return with stronger force._

"_Has anyone ever told you that you have done a good job? Has anyone praised you for anything at all in your life that has made you feel proud?" I had realized that I was crying again or that I had returned to be in front of the man until a shook my head at him._

"_I can see that you are powerful and strong. I can see a flickering flame in you that is being put out by the cold words and actions of others around you. They do not see the power that that fire has inside you. But I do," he whispered the last part and I moved closer to him, kneeling in front of him eagerly listening to every word he spoke. "I can see the power inside you and I know that you will become so very strong when you grow up."_

"_How," I asked him quietly. I wanted to know how he could see through me with the other kids. I wanted to know how he could see strength and power in me when I couldn't. I wanted to know how he could possibly be real._

"_I can teach you child, if you come with me," he said. The words of my mum and dad telling me about strangers were long gone and I wanted nothing more than to become strong and prove that I was worth something._

"_I will go," I said. He smiled at me and stood, holding his hand out for me to take. I took it and let him lead me away._

_I will be strong._

"_I am Sakura Haruno," I told him. He kept smiling and gave me his name._

_I will be strong for Lord Orochimaru! I will give everything I am for him._

I woke and took in a sharp breath. I let it out in a huff and grumbled a little when I remembered what day it was. I drew my lips together in a tight line and folded my arms indignantly. I looked through my narrowed eyes at the pale man next to me. It was his fault, all his fault!

"There's no use glaring at me Sakura," he said without opening his eyes. "Remember that you're not the only one doing this."

'Don't you dare cry', I told myself. 'Don't you dare cry, don't cry, DO NOT CRY!'

"I'm not trying to push you away or get rid of you," he told me. "I have trained you with almost everything I know, as have the Akatsuki, and you have become even more precious to us."

"Why can't Karin go to the Hidden Leaf then? I can go to the Hidden Rain Village." Orochimaru took a lock of my hair and played with it with his fingers. It had grown very long, never once being cut since I went with him as a little girl, and would often be tied into a long braid with one of Sasori-sensei's poison valves hidden down the middle.

"Itachi told me about the deal you two have," Orochimaru said. I sat up, the blanket falling off of my white sleeping kimono, and brought my knees to my chin. "I know the type of person you are Sakura, and this is one fear that you'll get through. I know you can do it."

"Do you at least know why he taught me the Uchiha taijutsu," I asked. A long time ago the head of the Uchiha clan had used the sharingan to copy the Hyuuga style taijutsu and manipulated it. It had only been taught from the head of the clan to the first-born heir. Fugaku-san had taught it to Itachi-sensei before the massacre and then had been taught to me.

The deal that Itachi-sensei and I had was that if I could overcome my fear of going back to the Hidden Leaf Village and give him a reason as to why I want to become the strongest ninja I can be, then he will give me his reason for teaching me the Uchiha taijutsu in return. That had been a little over a year ago and I still don't know why I want to be a strong ninja. I had had a reason long ago but that was lost now. I have no idea why I want to be a strong ninja.

"No I don't," Orochimaru said to me. "Despite sharing common interests in you, he and I don't exactly see eye to eye."

"Maybe trying to steal his body had something to do with it," I replied flatly. I felt Orochimaru tense and twitch a bit. He hadn't told me that he had tried to take Itachi-sensei's body a while back and I always found it fun to surprise him with information like that. Then again I also like to make quips about his sexual orientation and certain things that no father wants to hear from a daughter. The latter is how he seems to act sometimes, which was funny when my first period came around the other month.

I honestly feel sorry for Kabuto when Orochimaru had dumped me with him and the questions I had. There has never been a moment in my life that I had seen him or Orochimaru redder in the face.

"That was a long time ago," he lamely shot back. Orochimaru had sat up with his arms and legs crossed and his face turned away from me. I could practically feel the pout he had on.

"There's no need to deny that you want Itachi-sensei as a partner, I have no problem with it," I playfully mused. His black hair flew as he shot his face around to me.

"That's not why I wanted his body," he told me, his arms ready to flail around comically.

"Oh please, you don't need to lie to me, Orochichi," I said, using a nickname I had come up with a while back. "I mean Itachi-sensei is a good person in many aspects. He's not bad to look at, and even I can tell that he's probably good in bed from the _special _training he did with me."

I was sitting on my knees and 'staring off into the distance' with a thoughtful finger on my chin when I said this. I didn't need to look at Orochimaru to know that he had halted in all movements and the dials in his head were slowly turning.

'Might as well fuck with him before I get sent off', I thought to myself.

"And all those outfits that he wore, my innocence of mind was taken a _very long_ time ago. Then there were all the times when it was _just so hot_ that we ended up having to _strip our clothes_ during our _training sessions_. I mean, when we were _all hot and sweaty_, we'd get _wet_ to cool down and then get _back down to business_," I spoke with a dreamy voice. Inside I was laughing at the horror struck expression on his face.

I can only imagine all the crap that Itachi-sensei is going to go through now that I've put those thought's into Orochichi's mind. This tops the plan Gaara, Karin and I had about Sasori-sensei being tied to sled dogs and yelling 'Mush' when he's asleep. There was also a similar plan that involved regular hounds and then letting a squirrel loose. Yeah, we got a little destructive when we were bored. It's better than what we actually do when Hidan-sensei and Kakuzu-sensei come to Sound to train us with weapons.

I kind of miss Zabuza-sensei and Haku-ani but they couldn't stay under Orochichi's protection forever. They'd left some years ago just before Hidan-sensei and Kakuzu-sensei came to an agreement with Orochichi to train myself and some of the others in ninja weaponry.

"I better get ready then," I sighed, planning to leave Orochichi in the disheveled state he was in. "You said yourself that you don't want anything to go wrong. Bye-bye."

"She's lying… she has to be… he wouldn't… she's not," I heard him say as I left his room. It took everything in my power not to fall to the floor and laugh at the seeds of destruction that I've just planted in his head. I'm probably the only person that could do something like this and get away with it.

"You slept with Lord Orochimaru last night again," I heard Kabuto ask up ahead of me. I looked up and ended up sucking my lips in to stop from bursting out laughing. "Oh no, you didn't tease him again did you?" The only answer that I gave him was a strangled snort through my nose.

"Oh boy, and first thing in the morning too," Zaku said as he came up behind him (A/N: I know that they don't know each other in the manga and anime but just work with me on this ^_^). He was one of my bodyguards. There was another, a girl named Kin, who had taken Dosu's position when he had agreed to go on some important missions for Orochichi with some other Sound ninja. She was still training with her jutsu's and I often watched her and Zaku go at it with each other during my free time. There were many occasions when Orochichi and Kabuto were busy with something or other that resorted in me having to find entertainment elsewhere. The Akatsuki that have trained me haven't been around for which left me more bored than usual and, unfortunately for Zaku and Kin, left me to either train or find my own entertainment.

"You might want to tell Itachi-sensei that it's not a good idea to come around for a while," I told Kabuto with a sly smile as I walked past him and Zaku. The smile on my face didn't work itself off until got to my room and saw Kin who turned a nice shade of red. Embarrassed at being caught at doing something she wasn't supposed to.

"What have you done," I asked her. I heard her gulp as the red covering her face faltered slightly.

"Absolutely nothing," she said, standing tall with an adamant tone. But I could tell from her body language that she was lying. I suppose it's a good thing that she was going to be taught how to act volatile then she wouldn't be in situations where she would be found out as an enemy. But as she was in front of a bag that I had been planning to take to the Hidden Leaf Village I started to get a little scared.

"What. Have. You. Done." I looked at her with an expressionless face while I repeated the question slowly and as menacingly as I could muster from observing Orochichi. Kin blanched slightly but didn't back down. She was a strong Sound kunoichi so it didn't come as a surprise that she stood her ground.

"She added to your clothes," came a deep monotone voice from my door. I turned to see that Gaara was leaning against the frame still in his own sleeping kimono. He wasn't going to leave for the Hidden Sand Village until tomorrow along with the others. The only reason that I was leaving today was because I had been trained independently and wasn't actually a registered ninja. Registering in a foreign nation took time and the genin of the Hidden Leaf Village were already placed in teams for their final test.

"Added what," I asked him. He didn't need to answer because his smirk said it all. Kin had put the clothes she had made to dress me up in for important meetings with Orochichi in with the other clothes. Gaara would always tease me when I had to get dressed up for something or other, particularly in the most recent months when Lords of other lands were presenting their sons as marital candidates for me.

"Kin, tell me where and why I would wear them," I asked my female bodyguard. If she were not so composed I'm sure that Kin would have taken the position of a child being caught taking a sweet before dinner. I sighed and caved.

"I can't guarantee I'll wear them, ever," I said with emphasis on the last part. I wanted to keep myself out of sight of my new teammates as much as possible. "Did you have the personnel files on the team I'm assigned to?"

"I have them here," Kabuto said coming into my room. His glasses were bent and he had some bruises under the loose strands of hair over his face. He'd clearly gone to see Orochichi in an attempt to calm him down

"I thought you were smart," Gaara rose with a trace of amusement in his voice. "Even I know not to be anywhere near Lord Orochimaru after Sakura has had a go at him. And this is coming from someone that doesn't care for anything in general."

"Yes, well, Lord Orochimaru doesn't see me as his own child like he does with Sakura, now does he?" Kabuto got a little huffy when my unique relationship with Orochichi was brought into conversation so I went up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You know that he cares," I told him, "he just doesn't show it."

"Here's the team you're assigned to in the Hidden Leaf Village." I took the files from him and looked at the faces of the men that would become pawns. I smirked at the pictures and the names that were attached to them.

'You intend for me to fool these people Orochichi,' I thought. 'You have more faith in me than what I thought you did.'


	2. The Kunoichi of Sound

**Disclaimer; I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

**Altered Course**

**Chapter Two**

**The Kunoichi of Sound**

**Inspired by Nicki Minaj & Rihanna, Fly**

'Thought'

"Speech"

_Flashback/dream sequence_

(A/N: Author's Note)

-Normal POV-

Jounin ninja gathered with the third Hokage during a rather bright morning. These Jounin were gathered to see the students that have graduated from the ninja academy under the instruction of the Mission Room Terror, Iruka Umino. A certain silver haired Jounin, known as the Copy Ninja, has had first hand experience various times as to why Iruka Umino was called such things amongst the active ninja. And the only one that he would willingly amend his reports for was the Mission Room Terror; the thought of feeling like a naughty child back in the academy was not an experience he wanted to repeat more than what he already has. Of course that hadn't stopped it from happening earlier that same week.

All ten Jounin watched and quietly conversed about as they watched the morning activities of the new genin. At best there'd only be three groups that would pass the tests that have been set, if not less than that. Of all the genin they were most interested in, the Hidden Sound genin that would be arriving in the Hidden Leaf Village at the end of the day was how they wanted to see. They doubted that any of them other than Kakashi Hatake would see her, being their new teacher and all.

Some of the Jounin quirked the sides of their mouths as the little orange genin glared at the Uchiha boy and was bumped forwards. They knew that the boy behind Naruto was the cause for the yaoi kiss but the girls that were fighting over Sasuke Uchiha were hell bent on getting him back for taking the first kiss of the boy.

"Good luck with the yaoi action on your team Kakashi," Asuma joked. Kakashi sighed and rolled his head while some of the other Jounin chuckled.

"Iruka's starting," Kurenai told them. The Mission Room Terror congratulated his students on graduating and becoming ninja before going on to explaining that they would all be put on a three-man squad. Some of the new genin seemed surprised by this new development and all female eyes turned to Sasuke Uchiha, whom had remained passive throughout Iruka's talk. He began to announce the squads and the Jounin saw each other their students individually before they would all head off to meet them.

"Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka went over Naruto's loud groan to tell them of their third teammate, "you two will meet your Jounin teacher today and then your third teammate tomorrow. She is a genin from the Land of Sound so I expect both of you to be kind and make her feel welcome in our village." Sasuke gave his former teacher a nod and Naruto made a loud declaration. Once Iruka had finished announcing the squads the Hokage turned to Kakashi.

"You best meet them now Kakashi," he said, "I honestly don't know what will happen if those two are left alone with each other." Kurenai chuckled and grabbed his arm so that he didn't wander off.

"I'm not letting you get away," she told him. Soon enough, with other Jounin assisting Kurenai in her 'Get the Copy Nin to class on time' mission by flanking off of his possible escape routes, all ten of the new instructors made their way quickly to the academy. And just to get a little form of revenge on the Mission Room Terror for all that he had done to some of them, they split and went to enter the classroom from all possible entry/exit ways.

Kakashi had opted to teleport under Iruka's desk and give him a little surprise. Sometimes when Iruka was surprised he would cry out, but if the surprise was something he truly didn't expect then he'd give a high-pitched squeak. Kakashi found this so cute considering how tough Iruka tried to appear. In all honesty, Kakashi thought that Iruka would make an impressive kunoichi if he had been a woman.

"You know I can just become pedantic about the status of your reports," he heard Iruka say. Being pedantic about his type of reports was something that Kakashi didn't want Iruka to do and in his moment of panic attempted to stand up. Of course by doing that the table fought back and he hit his head on the underside of Iruka's desk.

The curse that came from Kakashi's mouth gave away his position because even though he had hit the desk it was built into the floor. He opened his watering eye to see the blank face of Iruka Umino facing him while in a crouched position. This face was something he, Kakashi, had not dealt with. It was an Iruka like he had never seen before. And it scared him. He closed his eye when Iruka's hand moved forward but opened it again in surprise when it patted his growing bump.

"You hit your head?" Kakashi nodded. "Are you alright?" Kakashi nodded again, not know that the answer would decline his status of Jounin and being the only one that could handle Iruka Umino. The hand on his head had gone down the side where his exposed ear was and grabbed it, pinching hard.

The sight of the infamous Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake being pulled out from under the desk towards the line of Jounin instructors by the Mission Room Terror Iruka Umino tarnished admiration and respect right there. And it had broken Kakashi's promise to himself that he wouldn't let Iruka make him feel like a child. He stood in line with a mask-hidden pout and tightly folded arms. Iruka called the teams out and left them with an introduction to their Jounin teachers. When he got to Squad Seven, everyone had to hold back in laughs at the teacher that was given.

"Squad Seven, you will be taught by Kakashi Hatake." If Naruto hated Iruka at any other time in his life, it was nothing compared to now. He had seen the Jounin be taken down by Iruka-sensei of all people, no offense or anything.

Kakashi lead the two genin to the room and sat on the railing, telling the two to introduce themselves to him. Just like the teams that came before those two, they asked him to show them how to do it. Other than his name Kakashi didn't give them any other information about himself. What he found out about the boys is that Naruto really likes ramen and the Sasuke wants to kill his brother then have a family. Kakashi seemed pretty sure that Sasuke didn't exactly know what 'restoring his clan' entailed.

Escaping the two once he told them where and when to meet him and their third teammate, Kakashi went to the tree outside the building his apartment was in and lay down on one of the branches. He sighed every once in a while as he thought of the girl he would meet and the reaction the two boys would have when they actually met.

"Hatake-san," he heard a small boy call from under the tree he was in. He looked down and saw Konohamaru, the third Hokage's grandchild. Konohamaru had the same big smile on his face whenever the two would meet after Kakashi came home from a mission that took him away from the village. The boy had taken over caring for Kakashi's dogs from his grandfather. He was probably the only child that he could actually stand and felt a fondness for.

"What's up," Kakashi asked the small boy. He held up a package that he had been carrying stamped 'confidential'.

"Gramps gave me an A-rank mission to give this to you without looking at it or giving it to anyone else on the way here," he told the Jounin with pride, his chest puffed out and chin held high. Kakashi smiled under his mask and leapt down from the tree. The package had an assortment of protection jutsu over it, which meant that it was a package that only the Hokage and the recipient could be able to read. Even though he wasn't very far away from the Hokage's office Kakashi knew that delivering this package was technically a B or A-rank mission. Out of everyone the third Hokage had entrusted the delivery of package to a little boy.

"Thank you Konohamaru," Kakashi said as he bent to take the package and pet the boy's head. "Would you like to come in and see what's in it?"

"Really?!"

"Sure." Konohamaru attached himself to Kakashi in a tight hug. Kakashi gave the small boy a chuckle and picked him up, carrying him to the apartment that housed his dogs who had been complaining about not seeing the small boy for a few days. Ebisu had been training him from dawn until dusk and Kakashi was sure that if he kept it up Konohamaru would turn whatever tricks he learned around the village against the instructor.

"Alright, go feed the dogs for me and I'll open this for us to look at it," Kakashi said as he let the boy down once they were inside the door. Konohamaru nodded and took his shoes off before running off to do as he was told. Kakashi did the same only at a slower pace and headed to the kitchen. He sat at the small table and placed the package on it, moving over to the stove to turn the pot on for some tea. He smirked when he heard Konohamaru shriek as his dogs found him. He didn't think the boys' parents would appreciate it but Kakashi knew that he had made the right decision in leaving his dogs to Konohamaru in his will.

After the last mission when he'd used his sharingan a little too much he had placed one together. He had seriously thought about telling Gai that he had left his Icha Icha books to him. Iruka had been considered for their possession but he knew that the academy teacher would throw them out or burn them.

"All done," Konohamaru called as he sat at the table. Kakashi took two cups and poured the tea into them before taking them to the table. Konohamaru gave his thanks and gently blew on the tea. Kakashi took possession of the package and disabled the jutsus, breaking the seal to open it then let the contents slip out onto the table.

"This is the genin candidate from the Hidden Sound Village," Kakashi said to Konohamaru taking hold of the information sheet and showing him, "Some sort of peace candidate I think. Several other of their genin have been sent to other shinobi countries to build up their strength with diplomats and whatnot."

"Cool, how do you know this stuff?"

"My sensei was yondaime. He'd sometimes get me to help him with his paperwork, especially when his wife wanted him home sooner." Konohamaru gave him a sad look when he saw Kakashi's only visible eye darken. He mentally reprimanded himself for bringing up something that caused Kakashi pain. But the reprimanding was cut short when he saw the face of the kunoichi from Sound. She kind of looked like one of the girls that he saw at his grandfather's house, on the wall with posters of missing children.

Sakura Haruno was her name. He had taken Naruto into his grandfather's home the other day to give him a scroll that the old man wanted the blonde boy to have. Konohamaru had got it for him when he came back and saw Naruto staring sadly at the picture of a three-year-old girl smiling brightly in a picture with an older boy with dark hair and dark eyes.

"_I went to see her at her home that day,"_ Naruto had told him. _"I had called her a nasty name to try and fit in with some of the other kids. I felt really bad about it and went to apologise, but when I asked her parents if I could see her we went all around the village to try and find her. Each house we went to came out to look for her, even the Anbu ninja's but all that was found was a patch of her blood in the forest. No one knows what happened." Konohamaru looked at the poster with a sad face, feeling rather effected by Naruto's own sadness, and took special attention to the name that was printed on the paper, Haruno Sakura._

"_That photo is the only one they have that had looked relatively like her. Because of all the bullying that she had gone through she refused to have any photos of her taken, not even when she entered the ninja academy. I remember that there was one girl, the most beautiful girl I had ever seen with hair that was the colour of a flower, who was telling her mother that she didn't want to go to the academy if she was to get her picture taken. This same one was submitted to the academy on her record so that she could attend."_

'No,' Konohamaru thought, 'If I say that this ninja looks like the missing girl and it turns out she isn't, the hope the family build up will be destroyed. Even I don't want someone to go through that.'

"She's pretty," Konohamaru said. The girl on the photo was different from the girl on the poster and the one Naruto told him about. This girl, the one that was coming from the sound village, she had cold eyes and pale skin, she held her head high and her shoulder straight, this girl also had very long hair in a braid. But what truly separated this girl from the one that was missing was the smile. The one he was looking at held none and looked as if she never would.

"Wow," Kakashi whispered when he'd turned the page. "Her missions… not even I have gone through this many. She must be exceptionally skilled if she's done this many." Konohamaru's mouth was hanging open at the amount of missions that was printed on the paper. Neither of them was sure that even the third Hokage had done as many missions, and all of the missions that the girl had gone on were a success.

"I don't know if she's actually a genin," Kakashi mused to himself.

-Sakura POV-

The genin registration didn't take as long as I had expected it to take after I had met the Hokage. Sure it did take a while but I thought that it was going to take a fair bit longer than what it had been. All of my information had been sent ahead a while back when the leaders of the various countries had been given the candidate profiles and chose which one they had wanted, so all I had to do was a few techniques with a few ninja named, Anko, Ibiki, Iruka and Genma. I had met a man who called himself the Green Beast of Konoha when I arrived and took me to the Hokage, but I was hoping against all hope that I wouldn't meet him again.

Now I was sitting before the desk of the Hokage waiting for him and my Konoha Jounin instructor to enter. I sighed again at how long it was taking. I certainly hoped that this instructor wouldn't do this often (A/N: She's out of luck with that isn't she XP). After a little while longer I heard the door open and three sets of footsteps enter the room. Dosu had trained me in some sound techniques so I was able to determine how old someone was, their weight and gender with up to three footsteps. One was the Hokage, the other was a man in his early thirty's and the other was in their late twenty's.

"This is the Sound kunoichi that will be joining us for some time," the Hokage said with a silent indication for me to stand. I did so and turned to look at them, the hoodie I wore covered my entire upper body except my eyes, though they were rather hidden also.

"Good evening, I am Sakura of the Hidden Sound Village. It is a pleasure to meet you," I said with a bow. The two men that the Hokage had brought into the room may have been lovers with the way they seemed to be completely at ease with each other judging from the way they held themselves. The younger man that had dark hair tied back and a scar across his face seemed rather proper, almost like some of the academy teachers that I have seen back home, and the other with only his right eye uncovered and gravity defying white hair had a relaxed slouch, though it was clear that he was an experienced shinobi that even now had his guard up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Sakura. I am Iruka Umino, I teach at the academy and will be sharing accommodation with you," the younger man bowed at me in return. Seemed that my speculation to his posture resulting from his occupation was correct, he was an instructor at the ninja academy for this village.

"And I am Kakashi Hatake, I will be your Jounin instructor until further notice," the older man said with a small bow. This bow showed me that he has been in a high status position and has a noticeable reputation within the shinobi world, though that wasn't speculation. Itachi-sensei told me about Kakashi Hatake, aka the Sharingan Warrior, aka the Copy Ninja. Some knew that the sharingan he had was from his former teammate Obito Uchiha, but not many people knew that Obito Uchiha had been the older brother of Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha (A/N: That's not true, I just made it up for the sake of the story and give some background for something later on in the story.).

"I will give you your registration forms tomorrow if you pass the test that Kakashi has set for you and your new team," the Hokage told me. I nodded and waited for him to continue whatever he was going to say. "I don't think that there's anything else I need to speak to you about, so I'll leave you to these two and I might see you tomorrow."

I picked up my bag, bowed to the Hokage and turned to follow the two other ninja out of the office.

'They must have been lovers for a while by the way they act like a compatible married couple as they are,' I thought as I walked in between them towards the exit of the building. 'I wonder what they do to keep themselves like this.'

"Have you eaten," Hatake, no, Kakashi-sensei asked.

"I had onigiri on my way here and a dango stick when I was with the Hokage earlier," I told him.

"Not Ichiraku then," Umino, damn, Iruka-sensei mused to himself. "Ichiraku Ramen has the best ramen in the village, but unless you him you need to have not eaten for at least half the day to fit a bowl into your stomach." I wondered who _him_ was but lost interest after a little bit when it became clear that Iruka-sensei wasn't going to collaborate on the subject.

"Have you ever had barbeque," Kakashi-sensei asked me. I shook my head and told him that my land ate what they grew unless it was animals. I hadn't had very much meat at all since I'd left with Orochichi seven years ago, and it hadn't been that bad to give up or go without.

"Alright then. There's a barbeque house a few streets over that we'll go to," Iruka-sensei said with a smile. I got a little shock as I remembered that smile from before I had left. He was _that_ Iruka-sensei, the one that had taught me for a short time before I was moved to a different class. I remember now that he had been nice to me on those rare occasions that we would meet. One of the only ones that had been and our meetings had been wide apart.

"I haven't eaten meat for a while," I told them, "so I don't know how it'll go with me."

"How long has it been since you last had meat," Kakashi-sensei asked.

"A few years I think," I told them trying to remember the time I had last had some.

"… Wow… That's a long time to go without. Let's hope the Chouji and his family aren't there tonight," Iruka-sensei said. "We'll only give you a little bit at a time, until your body gets used to it again."

As it turned out the people that Iruka-sensei had mentioned weren't there that night. Both he and Kakashi-sensei had been somewhat relieved at that until some loud mouth woman had come over to our table to tease them about coming out and adopting me together. Iruka-sensei had been quite flustered while Kakashi-sensei seemed to actually take some thought into what the woman had said. Though I'm sure what he was thinking was how to keep him and his lover from making too much noise now that I was in the picture.

'Tomorrow I begin as a genin,' I thought as I looked at the ceiling of the room that Iruka-sensei had given me. 'And the first part of Orochichi's plan, infiltration, officially begins.'

I went to sleep that night hoping for the success of the plan that I was now a crucial part of. But I also thought of Gaara, being back with his father and the part that Shukaku would play for him.

**Clarifying some things for you guys! Kakashi doesn't know what Sakura Haruno looks like but he had heard that she had been missing back when she left with Orochimaru. The Hokage has Sakura in a sort of default way, Orochimaru trusts him with Sakura (OMFG) and knows that she will be safe in the village until the destruction plan takes place. Konohamaru is there for the hell of it but is a bit more sensitive than before. **

**I don't think that there will be a final pairing as this story is Sakura centric but I have made a few pairings for you guys. There aren't any romantic pairings until I get the sequel of the story underway, yes you'll have to suffer through a sequel. No flames please, just some love XD But seriously, no flames.**

**OroSaku (father-daughter relationship, but he had wanted her body beforehand)**

**KabuSaku (kind of like brother and sister but the kind that have at least 10 or more years in age difference)**

**AkatSaku (big brothers, uncles, etc. relationship)**

**NaruSaku (not romantic but Naruto does still have feelings for her later on)**

**SasuSaku (Sasuke respects her then thinks of her as a bit of a sister)**

**KakaSaku (professional, not romantic)**

**KakaIru (may be romantic in the end, I haven't figured that out yet)**

**NaruIru (NOT romantic!)**

**NaruSasu (as much as I wish it, not romantic either)**

**GaaSaku (they're besties :3)**


	3. Head Hunter Jutsu, Sound Kunoichi style

**Disclaimer; I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

**Altered Course**

**Chapter Three**

**Head Hunter Jutsu, Sound Kunoichi style**

**Inspired by Bratz, So Good**

'Thought'

"Speech"

_Flashback/dream sequence_

(A/N: Author's Note)

-Sakura POV-

I woke up before Iruka-sensei, but only by about five minutes or so. I suppose being an academy teacher he had to get up early anyway to make sure that he'd done everything that he'd needed to do the night before. I got up early because I used to have to train at this time when Orochichi was a part of Akatsuki and a bit after he'd left, he didn't train with me nowadays. I created two clones to get my hair braided and tie it in a loop so that it wouldn't move around or snag on my hoodie. I had thought of cutting it a while back but Sasori-sensei had given me the poison valve to put in the center of the of the braid so unless cutting my hair was the only way out of a battle (A/N: I'll find another way to get it cut for you guys ;D) then it was staying long.

I made a small breakfast for Iruka-sensei and myself while he used the bathroom. He seemed rather surprised that I had made breakfast but I think that that was because he'd been living alone for so long. Which made me wonder about him and his lover.

"Does your love not live with you," I asked without thinking. Iruka-sensei stopped all movements and I blushed at my rudeness. He coughed a little and asked me to tell him why I thought that.

"You and your lover acted as a married couple last night when I met you both. I assumed that you have been together for some time but he doesn't live here. It made me wonder. I apologize for my rudeness on the matter," I replied.

"My lo-lover?"

"Kakashi-sensei. When your fellow ninja approached you yesterday evening and spoke with you I had thought that my suspicions had been confirmed, seeing as Kakashi-sensei seemed to be considering adopting a child with you." Iruka-sensei blushed bright red when I had first spoken and now resembled a healthy tomato. I think that my thoughts on he and Kakashi-sensei being lovers were the complete opposite of what I had first thought. It seems they weren't lovers or romantically involved in any way. Oops.

"You and he are not lovers I take it," I said slowly. Iruka-sensei shook his head violently. I began to think that he might pass out by the shade of red that he was turning, that was a lot of blood travelling upwards. I started to think that I'd need to use some of the medic ninjutsu that Kabuto taught me if he went any redder.

"I'll just go," I told him. I got up and left before he could say anything more. After all of that I wasn't looking forward to coming back tonight when he could think clearly. I walked slowly through the village, taking everything in as I went past. Not much had changed since the last time I had been here. If anything it looked the same.

I stopped at Yamanaka Flower Shop. I don't remember anyone from last time named Yamanaka. On a whim I decided to go in. It was cooler inside than outside, which was odd considering that the door was wide open.

"I'll see you later," I heard someone say behind me after I had started to look at the flower arrangements inside the fridge. I looked at her when she stopped next to me to ask if I needed assistance with anything.

"I'm fine," I told her. "Just killing time before I have to go for a test." I saw a gleam in her eye that looked evaluative. She was sizing me up, something that I've only ever had enemy and rogue Jounin do. Turnaround is fair play as they say.

"I take it you're a new genin," I said as I stood at full height to match her. "How long have you been one? From your complexion you must have been one for a while." I could see the vein in her forehead pop in anger. But she thought that she was better than me. This blonde girl thought that she was a qualified enough ninja to look down at others. Unfortunately there were two things wrong with that.

First, she's nowhere near a full-fledge ninja. Not even a genin unless she somehow manages to pass the test later.

Second, she had no idea who I am and what I am capable of doing to her with only a single finger (A/N: Not what Tsunade can do but a more enhanced version of what Kabuto can do).

"Sakura," I heard Kakashi call behind me. I turned to him and nodded, leaving the shop and frustrated girl behind before anything more could be said. "I see you were looking at some of the things around the village."

"Yes, though that flower shop is the only one that I've been in," I told him. He grunted and walked with me in silence. The only time that he spoke again was when we began to near the training grounds.

"You're about to meet your two teammates. There's one kid named Naruto Uzumaki, he's the ditzy blonde, and the other is Sasuke Uchiha, the one with black hair." I grunted in acknowledgement at the information though I suppose that he also wanted some sort of reaction from me about the 'Uchiha' bit.

I guess I was a little excited to meet the Uchiha. But that was only because he was the younger brother of Itachi-sensei. I do remember a time when I was just about to fall asleep and Itachi-sensei told me that he was ordered to kill his whole family to keep his brother safe. He wouldn't elaborate on any of that whenever I asked him, even when we were in private together. My attention was caught by the duo call of,

"Kakashi-sensei, you're late!"

That's when I saw my new teammates. Naruto Uzumaki, son of the Fourth Hokage and the third host to Kurama, and Sasuke Uchiha, the sole surviving member to the Konoha Uchiha Clan Massacre. Anger started to bubble up inside me as memories of my childhood in this village started to go through my mind.

That was cut down by the sound of jingling. Two bells hung in the hands of the Jounin.

'Oh, it's that test,' I thought. 'He's the type that value his teammates. Guess I'll have to use the other two to help them pass then.'

"Aaaand… start!" I disappeared into the trees with the other two. A plan formulated in my head to get the bells. I knew that I would be able to get them from him without causing too much damage to the area. A few twigs from puppet chakra strings and they'll be in my hands very quickly. I guess the Shadow Clone jutsu will have to do for now, unless Kakashi-sensei or Uchiha used their sharingan then I'll do just fine.

I'll use the Head Hunter jutsu to stay in front of the poles and wait for the opportune moment to arise while my clone runs about. I remained in a bit of a dormant state underground while this went on.

Uzumaki got himself caught in traps that were obvious to me and perhaps to the Uchiha. Uchiha had held his own for a bit before getting caught in the leaf style Head Hunter jutsu. And my clone ran rampant with the Copy Ninja, acting alone and without teamwork to try and take a bell. That managed to convince the Jounin somewhat that I wouldn't do teamwork with the others.

My clone started to rouse me from my dormancy when the others began to head for the rendezvous point when the alarm clock bell sounded throughout the area. When I was half awake I felt the chakra of Uzumaki set at the middle stump, no doubt the one that was tied there, and then the Uchiha's chakra move towards Kakashi-sensei's before becoming mixed together.

Using a subtle sound jutsu that Dosu taught me I searched for their heartbeats to determine their distance from me and the stance that they were taking. What I found was rather odd and… questionable?

It seemed that Kakashi-sensei was on top of Uchiha while giving us some sort of lecture. Maybe Kakashi-sensei preferred the younger boys…

I had an idea at that moment on how to make my dramatic entrance.

I waited for the precise moment to emerge and take the bells. That moment came when Kakashi-sensei emphasized to word teamwork. I came out of the ground and gently reached over his waist with one of my kunai placed into a position that could either kill or paralyse him. I grasped the bells, purposely making a noise to get the attention of all three, and told Kakashi-sensei not to move lest he wished to end his life as a ninja.

My clone disappeared with a poof while Naruto looked between the spot it had been to where I am with a shocked look on his face.

Kakashi-sensei chuckled at me before raising his hands in surrender. I put my kunai away and held his bells in front of me, looking at them noting that they were rather old. I didn't understand why he kept them.

"Well, it seems like Sakura has passed the test. I guess you two will just have to fail," he said looking at the two boys. I sighed and began to say my part.

"If they fail then I fail," I told him. "You said yourself that the basic instructions for a squad is teamwork. I can't participate in teamwork if there is no team to speak of. I'm sure that these two can get used to each other as I will them."

Kakashi-sensei was silent for a while myself and the other two looked at him. Though they couldn't see my face I was giving him an ongoing expectant look, Uchiha had a bit of an angry look but a glint in his eye and Uzumaki just had a confused look combined with an 'Are you going to give us an answer' expression. But I knew. I've been training six years for this under the most dangerous men and women that Oro-chichi could bribe.

**Ta-da! Hope you like it. I'm actually gonna put all my stories on hiatus soon just so that I can prioritise and finish them so that I won't disappoint and bore you guys.**

**I've got the middle of this story finished so they'll pop up in the Chuunin exams arc.**

**Hope you enjoyed this my lovelies.**

**Live long and prosper!**


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